Atari Aims for ArmA:
Gold announces the North American release of ArmA: Gold (thanks Gamer's Hell), the
compilation of Bohemia Interactive's ArmA: Combat Operations the Queens Gambit
expansion for the military shooter:

NEW YORK, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR - News), one of the world's most recognized brands
and a third-party video game publisher and distributor, today announced that
ArmA: Gold, the compilation of ArmA: Combat Operations and ArmA: Queens Gambit
the official expansion pack from Bohemia Interactive, has shipped to retailers
in North America. ArmA: Gold is rated M for Mature and is now available at the
suggested retail price of $49.95. ArmA: Queens Gambit, the expansion pack only,
has been released exclusively for digital download for the Windows platform for
the suggested retail price of $29.95.

"ArmA: Queens Gambit takes players back into the battlefield for an
exceptionally realistic action-packed combat experience," said Todd Slepian,
Producer, Atari, Inc. "With the ArmA: Gold bundle, fans of ArmA: Combat
Operations will be able to revisit their favorite tactical missions and engage
in all new campaigns as seasoned veterans."

In ArmA: Combat Operations, players will be able to engage in the story-driven
single-player campaign or take part in huge multiplayer battles with more than
50 players on one battlefield at once. Featuring a vast environment with more
than 150 square miles to explore, ArmA: Combat Operations allows players to
pilot or drive more than 30 vehicles including APCs, tanks, self-propelled
anti-aircraft guns, helicopters and fighter planes.

ArmA: Queens Gambit will offer a new story-based campaign occurring 18 months
after the ArmA: Combat Operations war conflict. In the same realistic combat
simulation experience, players take on the role of a group of seasoned
mercenaries to help the government with a sensitive matter that the army cannot
handle alone. With unprecedented freedom of movement, actions and tactics, the
game will allow players to immerse themselves in battle with six completely new
characters, new vehicles and seven original campaigns.

For more information on Atari and its entire product line-up please visit
www.atari.com.

The 1.09 beta patch did help a lot in stability and performance, but they still have a LONG way to go. But I doubt we'll see past 1.09 (or 1.10, what ever they call the final version after 1.09 beta) since ArmA 2 is their main focus.

I hope ArmA 2 is done right, but seeing what ArmA was like after OFP, I do NOT have high hopes. As sluggish as the control was in OFP, I could still shoot fairly well and hit things. In ArmA, the control and aiming is so screwed up, I can't hit the broad side of a barn in that game. Yet I go back to OFP and I make hit after hit no problem. I have tweaked the ArmA controls in every possible way too.

Aside from some of the horrible game design issues, there are many bugs that have no reason to still exist in ArmA. I think they're biting off more than they can chew with the game. It's trying to be the ultimate uber sim that allows you do to everything but no part of it is done well. Both OFP and ArmA are games that are "jack of all trades, master of none."

I can only hope OFP 2 by Codemasters is done well. I have more faith in the engine they're using for OFP 2 and hopefully their developer talent is better.

I'm also hoping the SDK for crysis will be released soon as I think CryENGINE 2 would work pretty well for a game like OFP or ArmA. I'm planning on taking the crysis SDK and making a mod that changes the gameplay to be a military sim like OFP/ArmA, but will be done A LOT better. I think the engine behind World in Conflict would work perfectly for this kind of game too, but I have yet messed with the SDK for that game so I don't know what modding for it is like.

Ok I'm writing way too much here. Obviously I have too much time on my hands.